Kyle Police Station Grand Opening

The Kyle community came out in full force to participate in the Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting for the departments new police station in downtown Kyle.

The Kyle Police Department’s 2,400 square-foot former home was already too small when the department had only 19 sworn officers only 7 years ago. Since then, the department has grown to 37 sworn officers and completely outgrown the former post office building that has served as the police station since 2006.

That changed today as officials marked the official grand opening of the department’s new home, an 8,000 square foot building that has been retooled specifically to accommodate the still growing police force.

“The first responsibility of municipal government is to provide for the safety of its residents,” said Kyle Mayor Lucy Johnson. “This facility provides our police department with many more resources to not only investigate and solve crimes, but also to strategize on how to further prevent crime in our community.”

The City of Kyle bought the building in 2007 and leased it to Hays County until 2012 when the City decided the building was needed for the police department. Hays County has since built its own facility for their Precinct Two offices. The City spent approximately $200,000 to retool the space for the police department.

“This was truly a team effort to get this building ready for the police department and to be able to accomplish that task in a timely manner and with limited funds,” said James Earp, CPM, Assistant City Manager and project lead for the building conversion. “Everyone from the City’s Finance, Public Works, and Police Departments worked closely with our contractor to be sure that we met as many of the police department’s needs as possible. I’d also like to acknowledge SpaGlass Contractors for the dedicated work and attention to detail that they displayed during this project.”

The former police building will continue to be used as a communications and dispatch center for the department.

“Most of the work of the Kyle Police Department takes place out in the Kyle community where we interact with the citizens and maintain an active and visible presence in the places where people live and work,” said Kyle Police Chief Jeff Barnett. “However, we can’t understate the importance of a functional facility where we can take care of the work that needs to happen off the streets to secure records and information, conduct briefings and trainings, and to be able to host citizens when they feel the need to come to us.”

Approximately 100 members of the community attended the ribbon cutting ceremony which was conducted with the assistance of the Kyle Area Chamber of Commerce. Visitors were also treated to tours and refreshments provided by the Kyle Police Department Citizen’s Academy after the ribbon cutting.

The program began with a flag raising ceremony performed by the Kyle Police Department’s Honor Guard and the Kyle/Buda VFW Post 12058 Honor Guard.

The Kyle Police department currently has 37 sworn officers and 22 non-sworn support staff to serve the City of Kyle’s 30,000 residents and growing business sector within the 20 square miles inside the Kyle City Limits.